Fortress of Solitude
by rpaula978
Summary: The story starts with Rick and Alexis looking at an old family photograph and ends with a phone call from Kate. The mystery of a dead teen superhero has begun. Takes place somewhere in Season 3. Please read and enjoy! Reviews encouraged!
1. In the Batcave

They, whoever "they" are, say write what you know. Well, I have collected comic books for over 40 years, so I know something about comics. With Castle's cast appearing at the San Diego Comic Con, I thought wrapping a mystery around this event. This is my second story and when I drift off to sleep at night, the next chapter develops. Thanks to Tanya Reed who "beta's" for me. Please review

**Season 3 "Fortress of Solitude"**

**Chapter 1 "In the Batcave"**

Rick Castle looked up from his laptop when he heard the raucous giggling coming from Alexis's room. Alexis had her friend, Amber, over and they were supposed to be studying for a calculus test. He did a quick "save" of the outline for the next Nikki Heat novel and walked quietly to the door of her room. Doing his best detective impression, he carefully put his ear to the door and heard the girls shrieking.

"Your dad was such a dork! Cute but a dork", said Amber.

Surprised by the remark, Rick knocked on the door and invited himself into the room. "Hi, girls! I was in the neighborhood and thought I would check to see if you needed anything. What's up?"

Alexis smiled at her dad letting him know she knew he was not telling the complete truth. "We were just looking at some old photos that I have been scanning. I I'm trying to finish the video project for school. Amber found a picture of you dressed as some superhero when you were 8 years old."

"Let me see that picture.", Rick said. He smiled wistfully looking at the picture. There he was; a scrawny eight year old kid dressed in red briefs with two garish red belts crisscrossed against his chest and swinging a sword over his head. His face was grimacing with dramatic energy and his mouth open yelling.

"Who were you pretending to be, Dad?"

"I was He-Man, The Master of the Universe. He tipped his head back and bellowed in a deep bass voice, "By the power of Grayskull, I have the power!". Rick posed in the standard heroic position, head thrown back, chest out and arms akimbo. Alexis rolled her eyes and Amber, her friend, blushed as her not so subtle crush on Castle bloomed.

"Where did you get the sword, Mr. Castle?, asked Amber sweetly.

"Cardboard, duct tape and one of my socks for the handle. Creativity runs deep in this family." Alexis' grandmother was being considered for a part as Prince Adam's mother in one of the Masters of the Universe movie scripts being kicked around in the 80's. She brought home some of the comic books and toys so she could prepare. I enjoyed reading them wanted to be the hero. I thought it was great fun to run around with a sword."

"And in your underwear, Dad?"

"Well, that was an added benefit. Underroos were big back then. I think I'll just take that picture so you won't be more emotionally scarred than you already are."

"You are a little late, Dad. I have already scanned it and I think it would be a perfect addition to your website. I might even put it on my Facebook page." Alexis smirked.

Both Rick and Alexis knew she was kidding; they enjoyed the good natured sparring. Alexis would be going to college soon and Rick knew he would miss times like these.

"Now you sound like your grandmother! How about if I order some pizza and you delete that image?"

"Sounds like a deal to me, but that picture will be burned in my mind for all eternity. Alexis teased.

"Now keep in mind, my dear, I do have pictures of you that I could always bring out."

"Okay. Okay.", Alexis relented. "How about the sausage, ricotta and banana pepper?"

"I'll get the large. And a proscuitto and pineapple as well for me."

Castle's iPhone played "Life's a Bowl of Cherries" and Beckett's face appeared on the faceplate. "Hmm. It's Detective Beckett. Might be a case.". Beneath Beckett's name was an image of her looking annoyed. He smiled knowing he did something that

"What's up, Detective?"

"We have a murder to investigate, Castle. This one is pretty gruesome."

"I do gruesome on a daily basis, Detective," he joked.

"Castle, a body was found behind the liquor store at the corner of Siegel and Shuster. The body was dressed in tights and was wearing a cape."

"You have a dead superhero!", Castle exclaimed giddily. "What super villain are we chasing, Lex Luthor or the Joker?"

Her voice choked,"Castle, it's a kid."

His eyes narrowed as anger crossed his face. "I am on my way."


	2. Crime Alley

It was very gratifying to see the reviews along with the number of readers who have subscribed to the story. Thanks for the "boost". I hope I can continue to earn your readership and support.

Fortress of Solitude

Chapter 2: Crime Alley

Castle hurried to the scene of the crime, the alley behind the seedy liquor store. Night was approaching and the darkness surrounding the city matched Castle's thoughts. His mind was stewing; his anger at the death of a child arguing with his curiosity as to what artifacts he and the team would find.

Beckett saw Castle arrive and walked over to meet him. "Castle, you might want to sit this one out. The victim is about Alexis' age." Thanks, but no, Detective. As a father, I have a duty here. What do we have?" He walked over towards the crime scene. Beckett looked stunned to see this side of Castle; someone even more driven than she was to find the killer.

Castle's heart broke at the sight of the rumpled broken body wearing a torn silver and maroon costume with a jet-black cape surrounded by piles of smelly trash. The masked head was covered in blood. Beckett joined him along with Lanie who was examining the victim.

Lanie looked up from the body and shared her findings. "The boy is between fourteen and sixteen, about 140 pounds. He was beaten severely with a blunt smooth object, probably this aluminum baseball bat that was found behind that dumpster. She carefully removed the mask to get a better look at his face.

The skull has been fractured. That's along with several ribs and his right forearm. To say this was a violent attack is an understatement."

"Whoever did this was just out of control. The killer just lost it and took it out on this poor kid." said Castle.

Beckett asked, "Could the body have been dumped here and covered by the trash?"

"No," said Lanie, "the fight was here. You can see the blood splatter on the concrete wall and wooden fence."

Castle asked, "Who discovered the body?"

"The victim was found by the liquor store clerk." said Beckett. "There's no identification of the body."

Esposito and Ryan came over. Esposito said, "We've got patrolmen canvassing the area looking for witnesses but no one has seen anything."

Ryan shook his head, "He's just a kid. Why does his costume look familiar?"

Castle brightened, "Oh, that's the Atomic Kid. He's a character that has been revived by Red Star Comics. He's a character created in the fifties, "born of nuclear fire" and recreated in the eighties.

"The writer and artist are suing Red Star over ownership of the character. There's talk of a movie deal being announced at the NY Comic Con this week."

"Maybe that's got something to do with the motive for this murder." said Beckett.

"Let's me get him back to the lab and I'll see if there's anything that we can use for identification." said Lanie.

Beckett looked thoughtfully at the chaos scattered around in the alley. "Wait a second, Lanie. If he was acting like a superhero, then somewhere around here could be the clothing he would wear when he was in his "civilian" identity. Let's check the alley."

Esposito and Ryan looked at Castle and pointed, "You're checkin' the dumpster, Castle."

"Hey, I'm the writer, not the police. That's what it says on my vest." whined Castle.

"Let's not offend the dainty Mr. Castle. He doesn't want to damage his manicure." smirked Beckett.

"Actually, it's the shoes." said Castle grinning.

As Lanie prep'ed the body for transport back to the morgue, the rest of the team examined the nooks and crannies of the alley. Esposito yelled, "Got a backpack here. Looks like there are some clothes in here. Got a wallet, too."

Beckett rummaged through the wallet. " Looks like his name is Dennis Colt. He's a junior at Eisner High School." She sighed, "Castle, let's go talk to his family."

"Can I drive?"

"Castle."

"Okay, okay. The rolling of the eyes tells me all I need to know."

And they left to deliver the bad news.


End file.
